The important thing to understand about Xi is that he is at the heart of a leadership that has a collective purpose that arises from the demands of party unity. It is hard to see how else Xi and his team would be able to prosecute the anti-corruption purge that has been going on since early 2013, extending into the heart of some of the key institutions of power in China, from the military to government to the party itself. In this context, the party looks increasingly like the Catholic Church – an organisation that tries to be less a vehicle of specific interests and objectives and more a cultural/social/ideological entity – an entity that demands belief of some sort from its adherents and pursues a broad spiritual vision (in this case, a vision of a “rich, strong, powerful country”).

We shouldn’t underestimate the powers that Xi is exercising, but if we overestimate them then we are also making a mistake. Xi is no Godfather; he is the faithful servant of the party. As long as he continues to be so, his position will be secure. But if ever he tried to assert his own networks and interests over those of the party then there would be no nice protocol about how he would be dealt with. His felling would be as brutal as that meted out to Bo Xilai. This is the great secret of modern China. Individual political leaders are not the key. The institution of the party is. And the people who serve this better are the ones, in the end, who succeed. [Source]

In leading the Politburo in a well-publicized purge of Xu Caihou, a former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission who has been accused of selling military positions, Xi affirmed that his anti-corruption campaign is the boldest and most serious that China has ever experienced.

[…] Although the primary leaders of the campaign—namely Xi Jinping and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Chief Wang Qishan— are both princelings in the faction led by former President Jiang Zemin, their factional association has not been a major driver of the campaign. In fact, the four largest corruption cases (namely Bo Xilai, Liu Zhijun, Xu Caihou and Zhou Yongkang) have all involved heavyweight leaders in the Jiang camp.

Despite having targeted these members of his own camp, it is also unlikely that Xi has strained his relationship with his two main patrons, former President Jiang and former Vice President Zeng Qinghong. Instead, he has most likely made a deal with them. Yet the majority of the prominent members of the Jiang camp, including some who were very close to Bo Xilai, Liu Zhijun and Xu Caihou, still remain in power. [Source]

[…] Cheng Li and Ryan McElveen make a concise case that the highest-profile individuals to fall came from the same Jiang Zemin–oriented network as Xi and Wang Qishan. But what if this is not the salient division, and what if different battle lines have been drawn that aren’t captured by asking who’s loyal to Jiang or Hu Jintao?

A truly comprehensive anti-corruption campaign would have to be much, much bigger than what we’re seeing, so there must be a reason some people are targeted and some are not. Indeed, former Politburo Standing Committee No. 2 Wen Jiabao and Xi himself have been shown to have family members with immense wealth. There are clearly choices made on whom to target, and political analysts clearly don’t know exactly how they’re made. [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/07/oh-xi-didnt-different-perspectives-chinas-leader/feed/0Corruption Probes Spread, but to What End?http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/10/corruption-probes-spread-end/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/10/corruption-probes-spread-end/#commentsTue, 01 Oct 2013 21:58:47 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=163505The Xi Jinping administration’s crackdown on corruption is spreading to the provinces, with a recent inspection tour of local governments by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the official anti-corruption watchdog. From Reuters:

Taskforces working since May had found mismanagement and corruption in Jiangxi, Hubei and Guizhou provinces, along with the sprawling western city of Chongqing, the party’s Central Committee for Discipline Inspection said in a statement published on its website late on Thursday.

The statement gave no details on individuals or specific crimes, but noted cases of widespread graft and abuse of power. Corruption was also found at state-owned enterprises China Grain Reserves Corporation and the China Publishing Group Corp.

The Commission also sent an inspection team to the Ministry of Water Resources, where it said supervision of anti-corruption initiatives was “weak”.

In the poor southern province of Guizhou, a small number of officials had engaged in “trading power for money” and the probe had uncovered a high incidence of corruption in construction projects, land transfers and mineral extraction. [Source]

The most eye-catching destination was Chongqing, still smarting from the upheavals of the downfall of its former party chief Bo Xilai . Bo was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and abuse of power.

In a comment about the new Chongqing municipal government, Xu Guangchun, head of the Fifth Central Inspection Team, said the municipality had failed to impose sufficient checks and supervision over its top leaders, and certain leading cadres did not have firm political beliefs and failed to reach moral standards.

Xu also warned about “corruption risks” in state-owned enterprises in the municipality, pointing to rampant “fly-style” corruption – committed by lower-ranking officials – within the organisations. [Source]

Ni Fake was sacked as deputy governor of the poor landlocked eastern province of Anhui in June, and his case has now been turned over to the judicial authorities for prosecution following an internal party probe, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on its website.

Ni “used his official position to enrich others and to receive a massive amount of wealth directly or through relatives”, the statement said.

Ni was also “morally degenerate”, it added, without giving details, though this is often code for visiting prostitutes or keeping mistresses, both banned by Communist Party rules. He will be charged after being expelled from the party. [Source]

The document [a draft of the court indictment against Liu] gives a rare glimpse into rampant money-for-power deals on the mainland. It is the first time an official at such a senior level has confessed to trying to further his career through bribery.

It also raises questions about who Liu tried to bribe, given that he was already a powerful politician and that only a handful of people could have helped him.

[…] The court heard yesterday that Ding bribed Fan, a former bureau director of the Poverty Alleviation Office under the State Council, to the tune of 40 million yuan because she wanted to “boost her image as a generous philanthropist”.

But sources said the money was paid as part of the carefully designed plan for Liu to advance his career. Liu hoped to first secure a party chief position at a local province – a prerequisite for him to move further up the ladder, according to the sources and the preliminary indictment. [Source]

Chengdu this month threw open its doors to what is perhaps the world’s biggest building in terms of square feet, essentially a town enclosed in a glass-walled box. Yet New Century Global Center’s owner and visionary, Mr. Deng, hasn’t been seen since February. In May, websites advertised plans by Chengdu’s government to auction a fleet of fancy cars seized from Mr. Deng and others, including his orange Lamborghini.

Mr. Deng’s company, Exhibition & Travel Group China, says that its operations are running as usual but that it doesn’t have any information about the boss. Neither he nor the other magnates were able to be reached to comment.

In the absence of much official explanation, employees and associates of missing business executives say they believe Chinese legal authorities and Communist Party investigators are holding them. Interviews with the employees and associates suggest a broader effort to root out a group of people connected through political and business ties. As Xinhua news agency put it when tycoons were toppled in a probe of senior officials six years ago in Shanghai: “Behind each corrupt official lurks a business big shot.” [Source]

Xi realizes that Chinese people are angry about corruption, but his attempts to address the problem will almost inevitably fall short, experts say.

“There is a pretty hard and deep and wide attempt to look at everybody’s books,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, the founder of a media research firm in Beijing. “But what will inevitably happen is: one, it will be used to pursue vendettas, and two, because they won’t give up press control, because they won’t open up the party to outside scrutiny — because they are not able to address the systemic problems — it won’t be effective.”

[…] “The main single ferocious idea of the party is that there is not going to be a Chinese Gorbachev,” said James Mann, author of “The China Fantasy,” a book that aims to explode the assumption that economic progress inexorably leads to democracy.

“They are committed to a collective leadership, where nobody can get too far out in front of the others. They are not open to restraints on the power of the party,” he said. There was no reason to think Xi wanted to relax the party’s hold on power, he added — “and if he did, he wouldn’t be allowed to.” [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/10/corruption-probes-spread-end/feed/0The True Cost of Becoming an Academicianhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/09/true-cost-becoming-academician/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/09/true-cost-becoming-academician/#commentsMon, 23 Sep 2013 22:45:52 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=163180Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the now dissolved Ministry of Railways facing 13 corruption charges, testified last week that he took bribes to help him secure a perk-laden membership in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Hao Xin at Science Insider explains how Zhang was selected to run by rail minister Liu Zhijun, who wanted a man on the inside of the influential body:

According to Century Weekly, businessmen seeking ministry contracts learned of Zhang’s nomination and offered to help. That year, the magazine detailed, Zhang, using a slush fund provided by the businessmen, cloistered 30 experts from mostly ministry-affiliated universities and research institutes in a hotel for 2 months, during which time they churned out three books on high-speed rail technology that were credited to Zhang. That burst of authorship didn’t quite put Zhang over the top in the elections: His bid failed by seven votes.

Two years later, Zhang pursued CAS membership with a much larger war chest, according to his court testimony. He hired ghostwriters to produce more volumes on his behalf and invited voting-eligible CAS members on all-expenses-paid tours of the high-speed rail system, lavishing them with gifts, according to Century Weekly. Zhang nearly pulled it off that time: He fell one vote shy of election. A source tells ScienceInsider that Zhang’s membership might have succeeded if not for an impassioned speech by an influential academician who derided Zhang’s credentials just before the final round of voting. In court last week, official state media reported, Zhang pleaded guilty to taking bribes, almost half of which were for his CAS membership bids. [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/09/true-cost-becoming-academician/feed/0Bo Trial a Pivotal Moment for Economic Reformhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/08/bo-trial-a-pivotal-moment-for-economic-reform/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/08/bo-trial-a-pivotal-moment-for-economic-reform/#commentsFri, 09 Aug 2013 06:18:21 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=161239As the erasure of Bo Xilai’s legacy continues and his trial for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power looms, Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard report that division over Bo’s fate may be holding back economic and political reform:

Senior Communist Party officials worry that Bo’s core constituency – conservative leftists as well as the economically dispossessed – will be inflamed by a harsh verdict: the death penalty or even life in prison.

The risk is that Bo’s supporters could remain a brake on the reforms that favor private businesses and greater reliance on market forces.

“Bo Xilai still has many supporters and sympathizers in the party, the government and the military,” said a party source, requesting anonymity due to the political sensitivity of the case.

[…] Left-leaning sympathizers are nostalgic for the idealistic early days of Communist rule, when there was a deeper feeling the party was “serving the people” rather than providing some sort of vehicle for get-rich-quick schemes. [Source]

Most Chinese know that Mr. Bo, with his flamboyant egotism, was no angel. Under his crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing, opponents were imprisoned, tortured and executed, or lost their jobs and assets without due process of law. But they also believe that those who brought him down may be even more corrupt or despicable.

A lengthy prison term might turn Mr. Bo from a grasping regional politician into a national symbol, or even a martyr. At a time of rampant corruption and social injustice, many see him as a charismatic leftist who at least dared to challenge the status quo of organized crime and official self-dealing and to revive Mao’s socialist, egalitarian ideals. The appearance of pro-Bo images alongside Mao portraits at anti-Japan nationalist demonstrations last September and the arrest on Monday of a Chinese reporter who had urged people to protest the forthcoming trial are signs of this mood. [Source]

[… C]harges that Bo received ¥20 million ($3.2 million) in bribes and misappropriated ¥5 million are trivial compared to those leveled against Liu Zhijun. Thus, with his level of bribery deemed small, and his wife artfully scapegoated, the only high crime of which Bo stands accused is dereliction of duty. By limiting the charges, the CCP has limited the possible punishments.

As always where the Party is concerned, Chinese law is mere window dressing. The law is applied sparingly, if at all, to the Party elite, and the interests of justice (at least as the outside world understands the term) are rarely the highest priority in such situations. A trial such as Bo’s is invariably part of a political deal among insiders. [Source]

The immediate response is, of course, that the legal showmanship, though novel, is really just a sham. In the sense that the verdict was determined far in advance by political deal making, then yes: the whole exercise is meaningless. But if the Chinese government now views the law as something to be navigated and not simply ignored, then it has already overcome a significant ideological obstacle. Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law who secured a place at NYU for dissident Chen Guangcheng, mused that Party leaders would think of Bo’s trial in the following terms: “Should it be extensive and televised like that of the Gang of Four, or truncated and regimented like that of [Bo Xilai’s wife] Gu Kailai?” Both the henchmen of the Cultural Revolution and Gu were afforded nothing more than a show trial. But for Bo, the Party has conceded that state action must find a justification in the framework of law. Ironically, then, one of China’s staunchest opponents of the rule of law has helped lay its foundation. [Source]

Bo will be represented by two lawyers, Li Guifang and Wang Zhaofeng. Li had told Reuters that he was appointed by Bo. But the state-owned Global Times newspaper later reported that Li had been “assigned” by the government-run Beijing Legal Aid Center. Li could not be reached for comment.

[…] “For such kinds of cases, who will act as lawyers are all arranged by the higher ups,” said He Weifang, a law professor from Peking University who has followed the Bo case. “Whoever acts as the lawyer will not affect the outcome of the trial.”

Two lawyers previously hired by Bo’s family, Li Xiaolin and Shen Zhigeng, told Reuters last year they had not been given permission to either see Bo or represent him. [Source]

Amid China’s once-a-decade leadership change that concluded this spring, a handful of officials said they would make public disclosures of their assets. The pledges, spurred by extensive coverage in state-run media, fostered belief among some academics and others that Mr. Xi would increase government transparency and accountability. White-collar workers hope asset disclosures will ensure officials pay their fair share of taxes.

But a Wall Street Journal examination of the modest asset-declaration programs announced in four provinces indicates details that may once have been available are again hidden. [Source]

Xi Jinping rightly recognizes that corruption is so deeply embedded in Chinese political life that it threatens the very life of the Communist Party. But going after foreign companies is relatively easy. The question is whether Xi and the rest of the party leadership are willing or able to confront more fundamental abuses at the heart of the political system.

The credibility of China’s current anti-corruption campaign has plummeted following a crackdown on activists calling for greater governmental transparency. More than a dozen have been taken into custody in recent months, including well-known human rights advocate, law lecturer Xu Zhiyong, who was detained by Chinese police in July because he had “gathered crowds to disrupt public order.” In May, Xu, together with others, issued an open letter that urged release of 10 activists who had been arrested for publicly demonstrating against corruption and who had called on officials to disclose their financial assets.

By detaining Xu, Chinese authorities have silenced one of the country’s more prominent advocates of legal reform. In doing so, they have lessened pressure on themselves to confront the corruption infecting the country’s courts. [Source]

The State Council’s National Internet Information Office has closed 107 informal news websites and portals since May 9, according to a list obtained by the Beijing News.

[…] Some government officials have spoken out defending the move. According to Ren Zhanzhou, a spokesman for Sanmenxia in Henan province, these websites have either not fulfilled registration requirements, are “fake news organisations” or have “fabricated or collected negative news to extort companies”.

For Maya Wang, a Hong Kong-based researcher with Human Rights Watch, the crackdown contradicts President Xi Jinping’s vow to “always listen to the voice of the people”, when he assumed office in March.

Many of these websites, she said “provide opportunities for ordinary people to voice their grievances and to blow the whistle on official misconduct and corruption”. [Source]

Liu Hu, an investigative journalist with the New Express newspaper, said on his microblog that Ma Zhengqi, deputy director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), had waived further investigation into the suspicious privatisation of two state-owned companies that were merged when he was party secretary of Wanzhou district in Chongqing.

This marks the fourth high-profile exposure in recent months by journalists using their real names on social media. Previously, a deputy editor with Caijing magazine, Luo Changping , accused Liu Tienan, a former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, of corruption, resulting in him being sacked and investigated.

“I am pained to see so much worth of state assets embezzled by civil servants,” Liu Hu told the Post in an online interview yesterday before his related posts were deleted by censors.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/08/broken-promises-in-the-fight-against-corruption/feed/0Success Brings Scrutiny to Chinese Mystichttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/success-brings-scrutiny-to-chinese-mystic/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/success-brings-scrutiny-to-chinese-mystic/#commentsThu, 01 Aug 2013 04:53:48 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=160761Over the past week and amid a state campaign discouraging superstition among the political elite, “Qigong master” Wang Lin has attracted much attention in the Chinese media due to his relationships with high-profile officials and celebrities. Last week, the Global Times reported:

Qigong, the ancient Chinese healing practice, has seen a revival in popularity of late, becoming one of the latest fads for celebrities. Although a number of pseudo-qigong masters have been revealed as frauds, losing much of their appeal with the public, their celebrity fan base appears to be more loyal than most.

The devotion of prominent personalities to their masters came to light recently when photos surfaced of Ma Yun (Jack Ma), the billionaire founder and ex-CEO of the Alibaba Group, visiting Wang Lin, a self-proclaimed qigong master from Pingxiang in Jiangxi Province. The reaction online was one of shock that such a successful entrepreneur could fall prey to a charlatan like Wang.

There was further consternation when other celebrities such as actor Jet Li and actress Zhao Wei also became guests of Wang Lin.

Quickly delving into the life of Wang, more alarming pictures were found in which Wang seemed to be hobnobbing with top officials including Liu Zhijun, the disgraced minister of railways, and former ministers. In one picture, former health minister Chen Minzhang was shown receiving treatment by Wang. [Source]

In what appears to be a latest case of scam busting, the flamboyant ‘Qigong’ master Wang Lin will soon see his self-vaunted supernatural power grilled as an investigation into his suspected illegal medical practice is well underway, according to a report by Beijing News on July 29.

Head of the publicity department of the county Party committee of Luxi, Wang’s hometown in eastern Jiangxi Province, told the journalist in a telephone interview last night that further probe is still in process as there is now no sufficient evidence to make an immediate arrest.

Wang’s self-claimed paranormal abilities and high-profile friends roster have hit the headlines over the past week, although most of the coverages treat him as a pompous, money-worshiping swindler.

The official China Central Television put on a feature program last night to muckrake Wang, describing him as a “bragger and liar” whose only aim is to “accumulate wealth”. [Source]

A court in Jiangxi Province held the second trial in a 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) dispute between the self-proclaimed qigong master Wang Lin and his former apprentice on Tuesday Morning.

Zou Yong, a businessman and once Wang’s apprentice, appealed to the Higher People’s Court in Jiangxi Province after an intermediate court ruled that he must pay back the 30 million yuan he was loaned by Wang.

Zou told the Global Times in a phone interview on Tuesday that he borrowed money from Wang but had already paid some of it back through his “tuition.”

Zou had allegedly paid Wang over 5 million yuan and bought Wang a Rolls Royce as “tuition” to learn qigong.

“I used to truly believe in Wang’s tricks, but I later found that he has moral issues,” Zou said. “Now I realize that all of his self-professed power is fake and I feel ashamed that I was once his apprentice.”

[…]Recent media reports exposed Wang as a charlatan. He claimed that he has supernatural powers and one of his most famous tricks is to conjure snakes from an empty basin. He explained that the snakes were freshly caught in the field by his spirit, which could leave his body and travel thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. [Source]

Hiding in Hong Kong, where he fled to avoid possible arrest, Mr. Wang said Tuesday in an interview that he was the innocent victim of a political vendetta that has rippled outward from a business dispute in his hometown in Jiangxi Province in southern China. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China with considerable legal autonomy.

Mr. Wang said he hoped that discussing his case would show he was the target, rather than the perpetrator, of corrupt political dealings.

“It’s as if the whole country has turned against me, turning black into white and white into black,” Mr. Wang said from a chic hotel room where he has been hiding out from reporters and, his associates said, Chinese officials. “It’s truly beyond my comprehension.”

[…]“If I go back, I’ll certainly be arrested,” said Mr. Wang, wearing the glittery style of ring and watch favored by many newly wealthy Chinese people. He said he had made his money honestly, and never took money from officials or from ill people who sought his help. “I’ve always kept to myself, never promoted myself, but now it seems the media can treat me as a criminal, say anything about me.”

[…]Mr. Wang said he had a permanent residence permit to stay in Hong Kong and for now had no intention of returning to mainland China.

He likened himself to Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who briefly hid in a Hong Kong hotel after disclosing information about the United States’ intelligence-gathering efforts. [Source]

Lei Yi, a historian at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says that this is due to a sense of insecurity troubling China’s political and business elite. They hope to receive some sort of blessing and turn to these “experts” for career advice and luck.

[…]A lot of these well-known “masters” are skilled in manipulating people, Lei said. Unlike religions such as Buddhism and Taoism, which have doctrines, what these qigong “masters” promote is just magic and witchcraft, he said.

Lei said that superstition is common in all walks of life, but this “man of God” phenomenon among senior officials and businessmen is worth special attention. While the worship by entertainers can be written off as a hobby with little public influence, in the case of officials it reflects a paradox because they are the ones openly preaching and advocating materialism and atheism. These words diverge radically from their thinking, Lei said.

Ultimately, Lei said, this phenomenon showed that “this is an era of lost faith.” [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/drawing-the-news-rock-stars-and-magicians/feed/0Writing the Official Narrative on Bo Xilaihttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/writing-the-official-narrative-on-bo-xilai/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/writing-the-official-narrative-on-bo-xilai/#commentsFri, 26 Jul 2013 20:21:51 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=160487With Bo Xilai’s formal indictment and his trial set to open as early as next month, the Chinese government is working to set the official narrative of the case. Bo, who was popular among many of his constituents, was also a renegade leader who operated very independently from Beijing. The central government is pushing the line that Bo’s main offense was not listening to the center, while also using his case as a prime example in the official anti-corruption drive. From Reuters:

Bo’s ouster exposed deep disagreements in the party between his leftist backers, who are nostalgic for the revolutionary era of Mao Zedong, and reformers, who advocate faster political and economic reforms.

Bo committed serious crimes and will be indicted on the charges of bribery, embezzlement and power abuse, state news agency Xinhua quoted the indictment as saying. He had been informed of his legal rights and interviewed by prosecutors, it said.

Bo, as a civil servant, took advantage of his position to seek profits for others and accepted an “extremely large amount” of money and properties, Xinhua said.

“No matter who you are, whether you have a high or low position, you will be severely punished if you break the law,” state media cited Friday’s People’s Daily as saying in an editorial. [Source]

“The party’s central leadership has separated Bo Xilai’s personal issues from the development of the whole of Chongqing,” an article by the People’s Daily Online said on Thursday. “It does not deny Chongqing’s successes in its economic and social development and affirmed the contributions by Chongqing officials.”

[…] The central leadership “has high hopes for party and state officials at all levels, and has [feelings of] inspiration and trust towards the Chongqing leadership at all levels, the party and state officials and the masses”, the People’s Daily wrote.

A comment piece by Xinhua state news agency was more straightforward in its explanation why the son of the early Communist Party hero Bo Yibo had to fall from grace: a local “tiger” had become too powerful.

“China’s historical experience has shown over and over again that the nation’s long-term stability can only be secured by protecting the authority of the central leadership,” the article reads. [Source]

When I asked Chinese friends why the trial was being delayed so long, they said it was because Bo was refusing to admit he had done anything that all the other leaders didn’t also do. Without his cooperation, the trial could not go forward. There may also have been disagreement among the leaders about how harshly to treat him. Apparently this multi-sided negotiation has now been settled, and from the tiny bit of information I’ve seen so far what strikes me is the relatively anodyne nature of the charges—corruption and abuse of power, the same thing that every other fallen politician is charged for these days. Nothing about murder, nothing about spying on other party leaders, nothing about what in the Mao days was called a “line struggle” (an ideological struggle over the country’s direction in which the losing side was considered to have committed ideological heresy), nothing about an attempted power seizure. Compared to the trial of the Lin Biao-Jiang Qing Counterrevolutionary Clique in 1980, this would seem to be set up as a pretty quiet affair. [Source]

Will Bo be given a similar political “show” trial, as the most recent heir to a Communist legal tradition made infamous by Stalin’s “purge trials” of the 1930s? How far has the PRC come in its march toward “a socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics” in the more than three decades since the prosecution of its best-known political defendants, the Gang of Four, introduced the PRC’s first codes of criminal law and procedure?

Developments to date suggest that the prosecution of Bo will fall short of the possibilities suggested by the Gang of Four trial. For some months after the announcement that Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, was being investigated for the murder of her English business associate, Neil Heywood, it appeared that Bo might not be prosecuted at all, at least for involvement in the murder. Elaborate efforts seem to have been made to keep Bo’s name out of Gu’s murder trial—something that would not have been done, presumably, if a decision had been made to prosecute him for related misconduct. When the scandal originally broke, the then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao had promised that Bo’s case would be handled “strictly according to law.” Nevertheless, for many months Bo, unlike his wife, was detained incommunicado not by the legal system but by the Party Discipline and Inspection Commission (DIC) in accordance with its own extra-legal procedures.

Because Bo retains support among some of the Party’s civilian and military elite, as well as among many ordinary people, apparently the leadership initially decided to detain Bo indefinitely, but informally, in order to minimize popular disruption. This was to be done without prosecution or any legal authority, keeping Bo in relatively comfortable circumstances similar to those in which the late Party chief Zhao Ziyang was illegally confined for his last 16 years after the June 4,1989 Tiananmen tragedy. As the 18th Party Congress approached in late 2012, however, a new political decision was made, for reasons as yet unknown, to bring a major prosecution against Bo, reportedly for a range of official misconduct including bribery, abuse of power, improper interference with the investigation of the Heywood murder, and illicit sexual affairs. Having detained Bo in March, 2012, not until late September did the Party DIC turn him over to the procuracy for criminal investigation and indictment. [Source]

“I believe in the party and I believe in the government,” wrote another. “No matter who you are, if you break the law you should receive legal punishment.”

Those and many similar comments were left by accounts with few followers and only a handful of posts, suggesting they were work of what Chinese Internet users refer to as a “water army”–a group of anonymous Internet commenters who use so-called zombie accounts on social media sites to influence conversations. [Source]

@笨笨糖q：The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee pays great attention to this case, and has reacted quickly and enforced the law with strength, fully showing our Party’s determination to fight corruption.中共中央对此案的高度重视、快速反应、惩处力度，充分表明了我党对腐败的惩治决心。

@pipipi1991：All are equal before the law, and no corrupt person is excused. The trial of Bo Xilai fully demonstrates the Central Committee’s determination to fight corruption. I support the central government, I support the trial! Anyone who violates the law should be seriously punished.法律面前人人平等，对任何腐败分子都决不姑息。薄熙来案件审理充分体现了中央反腐决心，支持中央，支持审判！任何人只要触犯了法律，都该严惩

@下雨天适合睡懒觉：I trust the Central Court will definitely fairly and justly carry out the trial. Every person, regardless of their status, must be punished in accordance with the country’s laws. [Source]

The Bo case, once again, proves the anti-corruption determination of China’s ruling Party and the whole society. Such determination comes from the political consciousness of rulers on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is the unwavering choice of a society that values the rule of law.

As China pushes forward the rule of law, it will take ruthless measures against corruption. The recent downfall of a number of senior officials is not the result of just a temporary anti-corruption campaign. The punishment of corrupt officials is the task of society based on the rule of law.

Bo Xilai might have thought he would escape punishment for his corruption. Some other officials holding significant power might think the same. But after waves of anti-corruption drives, their hubris may be diminished. The cases of Bo Xilai and former rail chief Liu Zhijun will ring like an alarm bell at all levels of officialdom. [Source]

It’s not clear if these disappearances are the result of investigations into the officials in question, if the cadres have already been found guilty of corruption and detained, or if they’ve fled. According to the Legal Daily, even colleagues of some of the missing officials are unaware of their absent comrades, why they are not at their post or when or if they might return.

The mystery surrounding the missing bureaucrats highlights the downsides of reforms that fail to introduce more transparency into the current anti-corruption drive. As the report points out, there is a wide range of likely explanations for the disappearances and it’s possible that nothing untoward is going on at all – that the disappearances are normal departures and rotations that have failed to be properly noted. But with Chinese President Xi Jinping flogging anti-corruption as a pillar of his new administration, the risk is that the public will assume that the worst: that every missing official is guilty of graft, and that the government is failing to handle them properly. [Source]

When the government fails to offer transparency when investigating corrupt behavior, Chinese netizens fill in the gaps by rooting out evidence of improper behavior and posting it online. One source of information about corrupt officials is their jilted mistresses. The Washington Post profiles one such mistress, Ji Yingnan:

After years in which Communist Party officials were considered untouchable, evidence of their foibles now regularly spills onto the Internet. Government censors often try to stamp out the news, but officials plagued by sex scandals — usually at lower levels of the party — are also being pushed out as the country’s new leaders try to prove they’re serious about punishing misconduct.

[…] Political scandals centered on mistresses — who are known as “xiao san” or “little third” in Chinese slang — have become so common that the party’s official daily newspaper ran an editorial in May saying the country cannot rely on spurned lovers alone to expose its corruption problems.

“Some people have said that the anti-corruption departments at all levels perform worse than the mistresses,” said the editorial in the People’s Daily. “Although it’s a joke, it reflects a serious question: Whom should the anti-corruption effort depend on?” [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/writing-the-official-narrative-on-bo-xilai/feed/0Ministry of Truth: Sentencing of Liu Zhijunhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/ministry-of-truth-sentencing-of-liu-zhijun/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/ministry-of-truth-sentencing-of-liu-zhijun/#commentsWed, 10 Jul 2013 16:00:33 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=159372The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”

Central Propaganda Department: The Liu Zhijun case is now closed. Media coverage must employ Xinhua wire copy. Do not produce detailed reports, do not comment, and do not exagerrate the story. (July 8, 2013)

CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/ministry-of-truth-sentencing-of-liu-zhijun/feed/0Ex-Rail Minister Gets Suspended Death Sentencehttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/china-ex-rail-minister-liu-zhijun-gets-death-sentence-for-bribery/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/07/china-ex-rail-minister-liu-zhijun-gets-death-sentence-for-bribery/#commentsMon, 08 Jul 2013 11:25:23 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=159198Xinhua English made a brief announcement on Monday morning that Liu Zhijun, China’s former railways minister, was charged with bribery and abuse of power and handed a suspended death sentence by the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People’s Court.

Liu was sacked as railways minister in 2011 after eight years in the post, and the scandal surrounding him is reported to have involved as much as 800 million yuan (HK$1 billion).

He was charged and convicted of accepting 64.6 million yuan in bribes to help 11 people secure contracts and promotions, Xinhua said.

Users of China’s popular microblog service Sina Weibo were sceptical about his punishment, with some condemning it as too lenient. “Such good news for corrupted officials. This is encouraging them, because the worst result will just be a suspended death penalty,” said one. Another lamented: “Oh dear, now he’s going to keep wasting taxpayers’ money.” [Source]

The Beijing Times reported that investigations into Liu recovered 16 cars and more than 350 flats. He had 18 mistresses “including actresses, nurses and train stewards”, the state-run Global Times reported in 2011.

“It’s really a matter of how much does this really prove that Xi Jinping is serious about anti-corruption, or whether it’s really more about ostentatious corrupt practices,” said Steve Tsang, a professor of Chinese studies at the University of Nottingham. “And in this case, there’s not enough evidence that it’s about corruption itself, and not just ostentatious displays of corruption.” [Source]

How do you get a “license to pollute” in China? Start by giving a RMB2,000 (approximately US$330) gift card to the local environmental protection agency’s director.

That is, according to a list that was circulated on China’s social media that allegedly shows 47 government officials as recipients of gifts from a real estate developer in Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia province. While the authenticity of the list cannot be verified, journalists in China have confirmed that the officials named on the list do indeed exist. [Source]

This was a complex case, involving more than 477 dossiers of related documents. Yet the trial was executed with astonishing efficiency and concluded in less than half a day.

[…] Liu accepted all charges and pleaded for leniency in punishment with a tearful statement. He even made reference to the trending concept of the Chinese dream, a telling example of how deeply he understood the Chinese characteristics in rule of law – for him the only possible way to avoid death is pleasing the top leaders.

[…] The debate was red-hot outside the courtroom. Will Liu receive the death penalty? From the level of cooperation he demonstrated on trial, his life should be spared this time. But then how will large bribery cases be dealt with in the future? Secondly, in the eyes of the legal community, there is an ethics issue. Can a Chinese-style show trial bring justice? The stance prosecutors took by the end of the trial was suspicious, and it’s an open question as to whether judges had a clear grasp of the case. [Source]

On trial at Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court on Sunday, Liu was accused of using his position of influence to help business associates win promotions and project contracts, and of accepting 64.6 million yuan in unspecified bribes between 1986 and 2011, according to an indictment reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.

But the [Beijing] Times reported yesterday that in other cases related to Liu’s abuse of his official power, officials had also seized large amounts of cash in various currencies. These include 795.5 million yuan, HK$85 million, US$235,000 and 2.2 million euro (HK$22.5 million). Also recovered were other assets, such as shares, vehicles, flats and other valuables, according to the report.

The report did not explain why those assets were not included in the charges against Liu. [Source]

The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch and Independent Chinese PEN called on the central government to release the detainees and drop all charges against them. They said the detentions cast doubt on President Xi Jinping’s commitment to cracking down on government corruption.

Since May 7, 10 of the 15 activists detained had been formally arrested, indicating they were likely to be prosecuted and convicted, the right groups said. The charges against the 15 include illegal assembly, inciting subversion of state power, disturbing social order and extortion. The crime of inciting subversion carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the other crimes have maximum penalties of five years in prison.

[…] “When President Xi Jinping calls for a tough response to corruption, it’s hailed as innovative policy, but when ordinary people say the same in public, his government regards it as subversion,” Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said. [Source]

China’s former railways minister, Liu Zhijun, went on trial on Sunday charged with corruption and abuse of power, state media said, in a case demonstrating President Xi Jinping’s resolve to crack down on pervasive graft.

State radio said the trial had begun at a Beijing courthouse under heavy security. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty or life in jail.

[…]He took advantage of his position and helped 11 people to either get promotions or win contracts, accepting 64.6 million yuan ($10.53 million) in bribes from them in return between 1986 and 2011, the official Xinhua news agency reported. [Source]

The hearing was unusual as Qian Lieyang, Liu’s lawyer, said the prosecutors had proactively suggested a more lenient sentence to the former railways minister during the trial because Liu had confessed all his crimes during the detention and helped to recover most of the corrupted money.

“The prosecutors asked the judges to give a leniency to Liu even before I asked for it,” said Qian, who told the South China Morning Post on Friday that he would be pleading for a “more lenient sentence”.

[…]“I’m fairly disappointed as it is a fake trial as usual,” said Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent Beijing-based human rights lawyer. “No doubt the court and the procuratorate had the endorsement of the party’s disciplinary authorities, and will announce the verdict based on the willingness of the leaders but not the law.”

He also questioned why the hearing took just under half a day to process, despite the complexity of the case. [Source]

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/former-railways-chief-stands-trial-for-graft/feed/0Ministry of Truth: Former Rail Minister Liu Zhijunhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/ministry-of-truth-former-rail-minister-liu-zhijun/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/ministry-of-truth-former-rail-minister-liu-zhijun/#commentsWed, 10 Apr 2013 20:11:21 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=154361The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.

Central Propaganda Department: In reporting on the case of former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun (including the charges against him, the trial, the verdict, etc.), strictly follow Xinhua wire copy. No media outlet or website is to independently produce other reports or commentary. (April 10, 2013)

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/ministry-of-truth-former-rail-minister-liu-zhijun/feed/1Former Rail Minister Charged with Grafthttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/former-rail-minister-charged-with-graft/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/former-rail-minister-charged-with-graft/#commentsWed, 10 Apr 2013 06:07:18 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=154340Former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun has been formally charged with corruption and abuse of power. Liu was removed from his post in February 2011 and has been the subject of a corruption investigation over the past two years. From Reuters:

Liu faces either a lengthy jail sentence or possibly death. How severely he is dealt with will be an indicator of how seriously new Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi takes his fight on corruption, one of the pillars of his new administration

Liu “practiced favoritism and carried out malpractice, misused his power and caused big losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people”, the official Xinhua news agency said.

“The second intermediate Beijing court has already accepted the bribery and misuse of power case in accordance with the law and will chose a date for a trial,” the news agency said.

“As a worker for the state, Liu Zhijun used his position to help others seek gain, illegally accepted wealth and assets from other people. The numbers involved were huge and the circumstances very serious,” Xinhua added.

]]>http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/04/former-rail-minister-charged-with-graft/feed/0Bo Xilai Case Sent to “Judicial Organs”http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/01/bo-xilai-case-sent-to-judicial-organs/
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/01/bo-xilai-case-sent-to-judicial-organs/#commentsWed, 09 Jan 2013 20:26:34 +0000http://chinadigitaltimes.net/?p=149740A short announcement from Xinhua last night indicated that the “serious law violation case” against disgraced Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai has been transferred to “judicial organs,” without providing details about whether or when he will go to trial. The Xinhua dispatch also said the case against former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, who was dismissed for corruption almost two years ago, had also been sent to “judicial organs.” Some observers believe the Party is readying the case against Bo in order to hold the trial before the annual National People’s Congress meetings in March, when Xi Jinping is expected to take over as President from Hu Jintao. From the Telegraph:

While the report hinted that Mr Bo’s day in court could be approaching, Xinhua failed to give a date or location for the trial or any further details.

Online, there was speculation that the announcement was simply a ruse to divert media attention from an ongoing row over press freedom that has now seen three days of protests in southeast China.

However, Willy Lam, a politics expert from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Mr Bo’s trial could well be held in February.

“I think there are good reasons to wrap it up before the National People’s Congress [NPC] in March,” he said. “I think there is a good chance the judicial process will begin, perhaps after the Chinese New Year. They don’t want the Bo case to be a distraction at the NPC and I think they have already collected enough evidence.” Mr Bo, the former party chief of Chongqing, was toppled from power in early 2012 in the aftermath of the mysterious death of British businessman Neil Heywood.

With the CPC completing its once-in-a-decade leadership change at its November Party Congress, the case against Mr. Bo was put on the back-burner: the purge of the leader had embarrassed the party — lifting the veil on the abuses of power and rampant corruption in its highest ranks — only weeks before the transfer of power to the party’s fifth generation of leaders. Mr. Bo, the son of a once powerful conservative Party elder, Bo Yibo, was seen as having allies who had ties to his father and had supporters on the Left.

In the first indication since the Party Congress that the trial of Mr. Bo may be imminent, the official Xinhua news agency said in a report on Wednesday that the “serious law violation case” involving Mr. Bo had been transferred “to judicial organs”. The report did not give a date for the trial, which is expected to take place in Beijing.

The report, quoting Central Committee of Discipline Inspection spokesman Cui Shaopeng, added that “a total of 4,698 county-level cadres or higher-level cadres were punished by CPC’s discipline watchdogs in 2012 and 961 cadres at county-level or above have been transferred to judicial organs”.